Bhubaneswar: Several educationists have suggested alternative methods for evaluation of Plus II students whose exams have been cancelled in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
Educationists GC Nanda, RN Panda, Pritish Acharya, Satyakam Mishra, Basudev Chhatoi, Bijay Kumar Sahoo, Golak Nayak and Pabitra Mahal sent their suggestions to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, sources said.
The state government had earlier decided to cancel this year’s Plus II exams, conducted by the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), in view of the pandemic.
It has formed a 14-member expert committee to suggest alternative evaluation criteria for Plus II students. Pritish Acharya suggested that an instant examination in condensed form seems to be the only option before the state government.
“The instant exam can give proper justice to the students. The examination can be held in one sitting with MCQ and OMR mode,” he added.
The evaluation could be made quickly. All care may be taken to prevent copying in the exam. Questions based on understanding and application skills should be the focus area in the instant exam.
The National Testing Agency (NTS) may be contacted for the required number of multiple choice questions (MCQs), Acharya said.
According to him, colleges can consider the marks in the instant exam for admitting students in degree courses. Otherwise, each college would have to conduct entrance test for admitting students.
Such multiple entrance tests would make the examinees more vulnerable to the virus infection, Acharya added.
“Making Class X marks as the basis for evaluating Class XII students does not seem to be objective,” he said. In his suggestion, Gouranga Charan Nanda said online examination is also possible in this critical situation.
The government should arrange tablets or laptops for students for the online examinations, he added.
“There shall be multiple objective questions (1-2 marks) with three papers in three hours. HSC mark and subject-wise attendance of students may be taken into account during the evaluation. We should conduct internal examinations regularly to avoid such situation in future,” Nanda suggested.
Raghunath Panda said the state government can go for examinations based on MCQs when there is improvement in the pandemic situation. The government should not go for physical or online examination now.
However, Basudev Chhatoi said HSC mark is the only option for the government under the prevailing situation.
The highest marks of individual subjects in HSC exams or the average marks of two-three papers can be taken into consideration for assessing the Plus II students.
PNN
